Kolkata, Aug 8 : The West Bengal government and UNICEF have joined hands for promoting involvement of fathers in encouraging new mothers to breastfeed their babies till six months of age.

According to the West Bengal Minister incharge of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Department, Dr Shashi Panja, as part of the initiative, workers at Anganwadis have begun to discuss the benefits of breastfeeding with fathers of the newborn and other family members. 'Breastfeeding should not be discussed with the mothers alone. This awareness-building exercise should start immediately with the conception of a child so that the entire family comes forward in easing the mother into breastfeeding,' said Panja, who is herself a medical practitioner.

According to her, the state Women & Child Development and Social Welfare Department is actively promoting breastfeeding in the backdrop of the findings that 53 per cent of the mothers still need to exclusively breastfeed their children for the first six months.

Emphasising that the doctors and nurses should play a special role to spread awareness on the need of colostrum feeding within an hour of a child's birth and its benefits, Dr Panja said that even in case of caesarean babies, breastfeeding has to be initiated within an hour of childbirth with the support of others present in the labour room or operation theatre of government or private hospitals.

According to the chief of UNICEF in West Bengal, Dr Md Monjur Hossain, there is an interesting example on how the involvement of fathers can be promoted in newborn care.

'A few years ago during my work in a South-East Asian country, fathers were asked to use their chests to care for the babies like the mothers to increase their participation. Breastfeeding creates a psychological bond between a mother and the child and it also stops excess carbon emissions by preventing fuel burning to boil non-human milk,' Hossain said.

Dr Basab Mukherjee, president of the Bengal Obstetric and Gynaecological Society, said that breast milk is the baby's 'first vaccine, considering that it is extremely rich in nutrients and antibodies.'

/IANS